Another Medium
by VolcanicPizza
Summary: What if the player were a character as well? What if their impact upon the world was noticed by the characters? What if they actively manipulated the game's code and files in order to progress? This world is now under their all-seeing eye. They are above consequences. They will always choose the path of their helpless puppet. Let us hope they choose well... old friend.
1. Once Upon a Time

**A/N: Considering how meta Undertale is in other regards, in hindsight I should have been more than a little disappointed that the player didn't matter more to Undertale's plot. Despite the rumors being spread about the fandom dying, considering how the fandoms for games like OFF and Earthbound are still around so long after the games came out, I doubt the Undertale community is dying any time soon, so I saw no reason not to write this.**

 **Do keep in mind that this isn't going to be just "Undertale but the player is a voice in Frisk's head- think of it more like "Undertale if the player had always existed, many characters were aware of it, and it was an integral part of the game's lore. The story likely will change because of this." I was never one for shallow reskins, after all- I want something a little more interesting that requires both me and the reader to stop and think. So, this isn't going to be a retelling of Undertale's story, in case the summary didn't tip you off.**

 **This will have themes of suicide, self-harm, depression, and anxiety. Consider yourself warned.**

 **With that being said, let's get into this!**

* * *

Could I even pretend to be happy anymore? Could I keep struggling through life every day with a fake smile plastered onto my face?

No. I could not.

Charlie. Charlie Dedan Sanders. That was what my name was supposed to be. That was the name I had been given.

It wouldn't matter much longer.

I'd already found the tool days ago: an old dagger, something that man (not my father, NEVER my father) had bought with the intent to sell it for a ramped-up price in his grimy store. The fact that he hadn't noticed its disappearance was a testimony to his incompetence as a parent. All that remained was to find a place that they'd never find my corpse, and after some research on the Internet, I'd found it.

Mount Ebbot. Not too far away from town, but just far out enough that they'd hopefully be too lazy to check it. It was as close to perfect as I could hope for.

Some of the rumors on the website for the national park there said that people tended to disappear around the mountain without a trace, and a grim smile crossed my face as the thought resurfaced. Well, if something killed me on the way, that'd suit me just fine, now, wouldn't it?

The husk of the mountain loomed in front of me, quiet and omniscient, seeing nothing and hearing nothing. A blind, deaf corpse and nothing more, quietly rotting away just as I would be soon.

There was no time to waste. I had to find a cave or something, that'd make it harder for them to find my body on the chance that they did check here. I started climbing.

It was almost half an hour later when I finally happened upon a cave. I was exhausted, panting for breath, but some relentless determination drove me onwards. Yellow spots danced in front of my eyes as I stumbled through the cave entrance, my lungs in agony, and at last I slowed my pace, chest heaving. This was as good a place as any, I was just as ready to die as I had been three days ago when some odd force compelled me to reach out and snatch the dagger when my father's back was turned.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I noticed something at the back of the cave: a pit, yawning like the gaping mouth of some feral beast. Curiosity latched its claws in me, and I stepped forward and peered down the hole. It stretched down, into the blackness, farther than my pitiful eyes could ever hope to discern.

 _Perfect. If I position myself right, I'll fall down there after I stab myself and they'll never find my body._ As I began to turn, my foot caught on something, and before I realized it I was falling into the abyss, the knife still clenched tightly in my hand, and in that moment...

In that moment, there was nothing I felt but regret.

A jumbled mess of thoughts, all screaming _No! Wait! I don't want to die, not now, not like this! I'm sorry, I take it back, I take everything I said back!_

 _I don't want to go!_

And then...

And then...

And then...

and... then...

then...

Then I continued to fall.

Panic ripping my mind to shreds.

Fear and desperation tearing through me.

Yellow wrath blinding me, but it wasn't mine.

No. Someone else was angry.

 _Who?_

And then I stopped falling.

And then there was a voice in the darkness.


	2. Your Best Friend Has Fallen Down

_"Get up."_

But I didn't want to. The soft petals of the flowers beneath me were so comfortable.

 _"It's time to wake up."_

Shut up. I want to sleep.

 _"You can't."_

Yes, I can. Look at me, I'm sleeping right now.

 _"Save them."_

Leave me al- wait, what?

 _"Save. Them."_

Wait, what was happening? Flowers? Voices? What was going on? WHAT WAS GOING ON?

I forced my eyes open and sat up, brushing a stray petal off my cheek. What was going on? Where was I?

 _"Good, you are awake. About time."_

Every thought I had as I looked around the dark room was wiped away in an instant, and for just a moment terror coursed though me. "What? Who said that?"

 _"Nobody important."_ came the nonchalant reply. _"Stand up."_

I obeyed without really thinking about it, shakily getting to my feet amid the scattered yellow flowers. "Who are you?"

 _"I told you- nobody important. Let's get going. You have better things to do than sit here wasting time."_

"Alright, random voice, whatever you say." I tentatively stood, shifting my feet among the yellow flowers beneath me.

 _"Well? You going to try to leave the room?"_ the voice snapped in annoyance.

"Alright, I will!" My shoes scuffed against the gray stone floor as I ventured forth down the hallway before me.

 _"There. That's more like it."_

At the end of the hallway, something glowed in the distance. Curiosity piqued, I quickened my pace. "What's that?"

 _"It looks like a computer to me,"_ ventured the voice as I grew nearer. Indeed, it did- a laptop, to be precise, connected to the wall by a green cable.

"I wonder if it works?" Hesitantly, I reached out to touch the screen, but it didn't respond.

 _"Well, of course it's not going to work if you try to touch the screen, dummy! Use the keyboard!"_

"Alright! Geez, somebody sure got up on the wrong side of the bed today." I tapped the enter key, instinctively flinching back as the screen brightened.

Before I could do anything, a new window appeared on the screen. As I watched, text scrolled across it.

* You found me.

* Well, congratulation are in order! I have to admit, I figured you'd just walk right past me.

* Still, I have to wonder...

* Why bother?

* ...it does not matter. You really need to continue on, after all.

* Just know one thing:

* Down here, your choices really do matter.

* When you do something? You're forcing your helpless marionette to do it, not some shallow projection of yourself.

* Your actions here? They'll affect them. Whatever you decide to do, they're the one who will have to live with it.

* So think a little about what you do before you send them blindly charging into battle.

* But above all, keep this in mind:

A pop-up appeared, a new one, above the window- as in, floating just above the screen of the computer- causing me to instinctively step back. "What the-"

It said:

* Despite that? You're still above consequences, William. You have as many chances as you want. So don't hesitate to use them.

 _William?_ Who was William? Before I had the chance to even begin to process that, the pop-up vanished.

 _Weird._ Brow furrowed, I leaned towards the screen as the text began to scroll again.

* So let's give your competence a test, shall we?

* After all...

* In this world, there is no such thing as mercy.

For the first time, I realized that something looked off about the green cable plugged into the side of the computer. It was... oddly thin, wasn't it? It looked almost like a vine...

And then it yanked loose from the computer and vanished into the wall as the window disappeared from the screen, and I realized it had never been a wire at all.

 _"DUCK!"_ screamed the voice, and I just managed to throw myself to the side as a thick green vine, hundreds of sharp red thorns scattered along its length, smashed through the wall and completely obliterated the computer, shards of glass and plastic scattering around the room and tearing bloody gashes into my face and hands. As I desperately shoved myself backwards, scrabbling my battered sneakers against the smooth gray stone, another vine punctured a hole through the wall, erupting from the other side, and then another, and another, and between the four of them, emerging from the shattered wall in the dusty haze...

...of all things, an old TV that looked like it was from the 1970s, ringed with six yellow petals, countless vines of all lengths hanging from the bottom of the box, static scarring the screen. As I watched in horror, the static cleared, revealing a condescending humanoid face that somehow reminded me of a goat.

It was almost cute, in a way.

"Howdy!" chirped the thing in a high-pitched voice, a sociopathic grin stretching across its face. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!"

And then the voice distorted into something horrific and grinding, something downright satanic, screeching, "NOW DIE!"

A vine lashed out at me, stabbing into my leg, and I let out a sharp cry of pain as it yanked it out, blood pouring from the wound. That thing laughed maniacally, raising another vine to stab down into me-

-and then the back of the TV erupted into flames. The monster reeled, scrabbling to regain its balance before collapsing at my feet, the screen cracking as it smashed into the ground. The face was gone, static filling the intact parts of the screen once again.

 _"What the-"_

"Child, are you alright?" a new voice spoke from behind the shattered hulk of the monster, and a figure clad in purple robes with some strange insignia emblazoned on the chest stepped forwards. At first I thought it was a person, but then I looked up and saw its goatlike face, peering at me with something like... concern?

"Oh! Please, don't be afraid, my child. I assure you, unlike that thing, I mean you no harm." The woman clasped her... hands? Paws? What were they, exactly? "My name is Toriel. I am the caretaker of the Ruins. I pass by here every day to see if any humans have fallen down." A shadow crossed her face. "I'm sorry I did not find you before that thing did, but... at least you are safe now."

"I-It's alright." I stuttered, biting back a scream of pain.

"Here, let me heal your wounds." Toriel reached out for my injured leg, and fear overcame me. I tried to yank it back, but all this earned me was another surge of throbbing pain. A yellow glare clouded my vision, and by the time it had cleared, Toriel was holding a hand over the injury, ethereal green fire gently cascading from the tiny claws at the end of each finger and pouring over the gash, some parts of it inching up from there to the smaller injuries on my face. As I watched in awe, the muscles and skin threaded themself back together as though they had never been split in the first place, leaving only a vestigial ache behind that faded quickly.

"Th...thank you." I managed.

"Please do not worry about it, my child." Toriel stood, clasping her hands together again. "Come! I shall guide you through the catacombs."

Hesitantly I stood, gingerly applying weight to my once-damaged leg. It barely even hurt anymore, but after... after that thing... and what it did...

It almost killed me.

It would have killed me, if Toriel hadn't arrived in time.

Honestly, I just wanted to stay there, curl into a ball, and block out the rest of the world. But something... something else forced me to follow Toriel, stay on my feet, ignore the screaming fear in the back of my mind.

I didn't know what it was. All I knew was that I had to keep going, and that whatever it was... it would not let me stop.

Not for anything.

And that scared me.


End file.
